[en] Much spider silk research to date has focused on its mechanical properties. However, the webs of many orb-web spiders have evolved for over 136 million years to evade visual detection by insect prey. It is therefore a photonic device in addition to being a mechanical device. Herein we use optical surface profiling of capture silks from the webs of adult female St Andrews cross spiders (Argiope keyserlingi) to successfully measure the geometry of adhesive silk droplets and to show a bowing in the aqueous layer on the spider capture silk between adhesive droplets. Optical surface profiling shows geometric features of the capture silk that have not been previously measured and contributes to understanding the links between the physical form and biological function. The research also demonstrates non-standard use of an optical surface profiler to measure the maximum width of a transparent micro-sized droplet (microlens).

[en] Dysphagia is a frequent and the most common symptom of malignant disease in the oesophagus. Adequate palliation with low morbidity in dysphagia due to inoperable oesophageal carcinoma is difficult to achieve. Surgery probably provides the most effective palliation of dysphagia, but it is associated with a high morbidity. Self-expanding metal stents seem to offer excellent palliation with minimal morbidity for patients with inoperable carcinoma of the oesophagus. Stent treatment has a good and prompt effect on dysphagia and can be recommended for palliation of patients with malignant oesophageal strictures. A combination of radiotherapy (40 Gy) and the self-expanding metal stents can result in a prolonged palliation. This combined treatment was generally well tolerated

No abstract available

[en] Short communication

No abstract available

[en] Highlights: • 1, miR-616-3p was up-regulated in GC cell lines and tissues, indicating a poor prognosis. • 2, miR-616-3p promoted angiogenesis and EMT in vitro. • 3, miR-616-3p exerted its biological function might through AKT/mTOR pathway by targeting PTEN. • 4, miR-616-3p might be a potential therapeutic target in GC. Dysregulation of microRNAs has been demonstrated to be involved in a variety of biological events related to cancer, including proliferation, metastasis, angiogenesis and immune escape. MiR-616-3p is located on the chromosome region 12q13.3, however, its potential role and clinical implications in gastric cancer remain poorly understood. The current study aimed to investigate the potential role of miR-616-3p in gastric cancer. The results showed that miR-616-3p was up-regulated in cancer tissues. Higher expression of miR-616-3p in tumor tissues also predicted poor prognosis. Furthermore, loss- and gain-of-function in vitro revealed that miR-616-3p promoted angiogenesis and EMT in gastric cancer cells. Mechanistically, further analysis demonstrated that the effects of miR-616-3p on metastasis and angiogenesis occurred through the down-regulation of PTEN, a direct target of miR-616-3p. We propose that the restoration of PTEN expression may block miR-616-3p-induced EMT and angiogenesis. Collectively, our findings suggest that the miR-616-3p-PTEN signaling axis might be a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer.

[en] Highlights: • MicroRNA-7 overexpression promotes CD8⁺ SP cell development. • We identified PIK3R1 as a target of miR-7. • The miR-7/PIK3R1 axis regulates CD8⁺ SP cell development via modulating the balance of AKT/ERK pathways. microRNA-7 (miR-7), a distinct miRNA family member, has been reported to be involved in the biological functions of immune cells. However, the potential role of miR-7 in the CD8⁺ T cell development remains to be elucidated. In this study, we estimated the potential effects of miR-7 overexpression in the thymic CD8⁺ SP cell development using miR-7 overexpression mice. Our results showed that compared with those in control wild type (WT) mice, the volume, weight and total cell numbers of thymus in miR-7 overexpression (OE) mice increased significantly. The absolute cell number of CD8⁺ SP cells in miR-7 OE mice increased and its ability of activation and proliferation enhanced. Futhermore, we clarified that miR-7 overexpression had an intrinsic promote role in CD8⁺ SP cell development by adoptive cell transfer assay. Mechanistically, the expression level of PIK3R1, a target of miR-7, decreased significantly in CD8⁺ SP cells of miR-7 OE mice. Moreover, the expression level of phosphorylated (p)-AKT and p-ERK changed inversely and indicating that miR-7 overexpression impaired the balance of AKE and ERK pathways. In summary, our work reveals an essential role of miR-7 in promoting CD8⁺ SP cell development through the regulation of PIK3R1 and balance of AKT and ERK pathways.

[en] Highlights: • The crystal structure of BdcA in complex with NADPH is determined. • NADPH binding stabilizes a potential substrate binding pocket of BdcA. • The substrate binding pocket is conversely involved in BdcA recognizing NADPH. • Both NADPH and substrate binding are essential for BdcA inducing biofilm dispersal. Biofilm dispersal is characterized by the cell detachment from biofilms and expected to provide novel “anti-biofilm” approaches of prevention and treatment of biofilms in clinical and industrial settings. The E.coli protein BdcA has been identified as a biofilm dispersal factor and designed to be an important component in engineered applications to control biofilm formation. It belongs to short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) family with the specific affinity to NADPH. Here, we show the structure of BdcA in complex with NADPH and confirm that NADPH binding is requisite for BdcA facilitating cell motility and increasing biofilm dispersal. Especially, we observe a potential substrate binding pocket surrounded by hydrophobic residues upon NADPH binding and present evidences that this pocket is essential for BdcA binding NADPH and exerting its biological functions. Our study provides the clues for illuminating the molecular mechanism of BdcA regulating biofilm dispersal and better utilizing BdcA to eliminate the biofilms.

[en] In a total of 16 patients after a two-thirds resection of the stomach with restoration of the passage by a jejunal loop, as suggested by Roux, by means of scintigraphy the rate of evacuation from the gastric stump was examined. On examination with a solid test meal, the mean half-time of evacuation of the gastric stump was 26.7 mins. with a standard deviation of 14.8 mins. The median value was 23.5 mins. and the range of half-times was from 11 to 58 mins. The authors do not usually find retarded evacuation of the gastric stump in their patients. The described method is time consuming but provides, although the radiation load is small, the necessary information on the course of gastric evacuation. (author) 3 figs., 16 refs

No abstract available